Leave · 2026 rules
Paid sick leave by state: how much you earn and how you can use it
Federal law gives private-sector workers no paid sick days. A state law, or a city ordinance, is what turns sick time into a right.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
No federal law requires a private employer to give paid sick leave, so the answer depends on where you work. Of the 51 jurisdictions covered on this site, 21 have a statewide paid sick leave law in 2026: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The usual accrual rate is one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, which is the rule in 14 of them, while District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington use a slower rate. Employers may cap how much you earn or use each year, typically at 40 hours, and the highest cap in the data is 72 hours in Michigan. A full-time employee on 40 hours a week at one hour per 30 would earn 69.3 hours over a year before any cap applies, so the cap is what usually binds. Part-time workers earn on the same hourly basis. The leave covers your own illness or medical care, care of a family member and, in most states, absences linked to domestic violence.
Sick leave you earn in a year
Hours earned in a year
39
| Rate | 1 hour per 40 hours worked |
| Cap (typical employer) | 40 hours |
| Weeks to earn one 8-hour day | 10.7 |
The accrual formula, explained with real hours
Sick leave laws almost never give a block of days on January 1. Instead you earn time as you work, one hour at a time, and the pace is written as a ratio. Under one hour per 30, every 30 hours on the clock add one paid hour to your bank. In Alaska, a full-time employee working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks would earn 69.3 hours on paper, but the 56-hour cap there stops the counter at 56 hours. A part-time colleague on 20 hours a week earns 34.7 hours in the same year, below the cap, so the cap matters far less for short schedules. The mini-simulator does the same arithmetic for any state and schedule.
Several laws let employers skip accrual and front-load the full yearly amount at the start of the year or of employment. That is often simpler for payroll and better for a new hire who falls ill in the first month. Many laws allow a waiting period of a few months before new employees can use accrued time, though the leave keeps accruing from the first day. The exact limits, including any carryover of unused hours into the next year, are in the cap column and on each state page.
| State | Accrual | Yearly cap | Employers covered | In force since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 1 hour per 30 worked | 56 hours | all employers | July 1, 2025 |
| Arizona | 1 hour per 30 worked | 40 hours | all employers | July 1, 2017 |
| California | 1 hour per 30 worked | 40 hours | all employers; covers employees who work 30+ days for the same employer within a year in California | July 1, 2015 |
| Colorado | 1 hour per 30 worked | 48 hours | all employers | see law |
| Connecticut | 1 hour per 30 worked | 40 hours | employers with 11+ employees in CT from 2026-01-01 (25+ in 2025); all employers (1+) from 2027-01-01 | January 1, 2026 |
| District of Columbia | 1 hour per 43 worked | 40 hours | all employers (tiered by size) | November 13, 2008 |
| Illinois | 1 hour per 40 worked | 40 hours | all employers, including non-profits | January 1, 2024 |
| Maine | 1 hour per 40 worked | 40 hours | employers with more than 10 employees in Maine for more than 120 days in a calendar year | January 1, 2021 |
| Maryland | 1 hour per 30 worked | 40 hours | all employers (paid if 15 or more employees) | February 11, 2018 |
| Massachusetts | 1 hour per 30 worked | 40 hours | all employers (paid if 11 or more employees) | July 1, 2015 |
| Michigan | 1 hour per 30 worked | 72 hours | all employers | February 21, 2025 |
| Minnesota | 1 hour per 30 worked | 48 hours | all employers (employees expected to work 80+ hours a year in Minnesota) | January 1, 2024 |
| Nebraska | 1 hour per 30 worked | 56 hours | 11 or more employees | October 1, 2025 |
| Nevada | 1 hour per 52 worked | 40 hours | 50 or more employees in Nevada (new employers exempt for first 2 years) | January 1, 2020 |
| New Jersey | 1 hour per 30 worked | 40 hours | all employers | October 29, 2018 |
| New Mexico | 1 hour per 30 worked | 64 hours | all private employers | July 1, 2022 |
| New York | 1 hour per 30 worked | 56 hours | all employers | September 30, 2020 |
| Oregon | 1 hour per 30 worked | 40 hours | all employers (paid at 10+ employees, 6+ in Portland) | see law |
| Rhode Island | 1 hour per 35 worked | 40 hours | all employers (paid at 18+ employees) | July 1, 2018 |
| Vermont | 1 hour per 52 worked | 40 hours | all employers; covers employees working an average of at least 18 hours a week (seasonal jobs of 20 weeks or fewer excluded) | January 1, 2017 |
| Washington | 1 hour per 40 worked | 40 hours | all employers | January 1, 2018 |
Why the ratio changes the answer for the same schedule
The ratio and the cap pull in different directions, so two workers on identical hours can end the year with very different balances. Take a 30-hour schedule. At one hour per 30, it earns 52.0 hours over 52 weeks. In District of Columbia, at one hour per 43, the same schedule earns 36.3 hours; In Illinois, at one hour per 40, the same schedule earns 39.0 hours; In Maine, at one hour per 40, the same schedule earns 39.0 hours; In Nevada, at one hour per 52, the same schedule earns 30.0 hours; In Rhode Island, at one hour per 35, the same schedule earns 40.0 hours once the cap is applied; In Vermont, at one hour per 52, the same schedule earns 30.0 hours; In Washington, at one hour per 40, the same schedule earns 39.0 hours. For a full-time employee, the cap is almost always reached before December; for someone working 15 or 20 hours a week, it rarely is, and the ratio decides everything.
Pay for a sick hour is normally your regular hourly rate for the time you would have worked. Laws that cover tipped, commissioned or piece-rate workers often set a formula, such as the average hourly pay over a recent period or at least the full state minimum wage, so a server paid a low cash wage is not left with a few dollars for a lost shift. Salaried non-exempt staff convert their salary to an hourly figure. The state page links to the agency guidance that spells out the formula where you work.
Sick leave next to the other leave laws
Three different laws can apply to the same illness, and they answer different questions. Paid sick leave pays for short absences from the first day, with no medical threshold. A state paid family and medical leave program replaces part of your wages for longer absences, usually after a claim and sometimes a waiting week. The FMLA keeps your job and health plan for up to 12 weeks of serious health conditions, without pay. An employer can often require that accrued sick time run at the same time as FMLA leave, which shortens the period you are fully paid but does not reduce the protection.
Small employers are where the rules split
Read the employers column closely. Some states cover every employer from the first worker. Others make leave paid only above a headcount and unpaid below it, or set a lower yearly cap for small firms. The same accrual ratio can therefore produce paid hours at a chain store and unpaid but job-protected hours at a family business next door. A handful of laws also set a minimum number of hours or days worked in the state before an employee is covered, which matters for traveling and seasonal staff. If you work for a small company, the note under each state explains which tier applies.
What you can use the hours for
The purposes are similar from state to state: your own illness, injury or medical appointment; caring for a family member who is sick or needs preventive care; and, in most of these laws, time off related to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. Many also cover a public health closure of your workplace or your child's school. Family member is defined broadly in most statutes, often including grandparents, siblings, domestic partners and sometimes anyone whose close association is the equivalent of family. Employers can usually ask for documentation only after an absence of several consecutive days, and they cannot require you to find a replacement as a condition of using your leave.
Using sick leave cannot be counted against you. Every state law listed here bars retaliation, such as discipline under an attendance point system for protected absences. When the employer does not pay the hours, or refuses a protected use, the complaint goes to the state labor agency named on your state page, which decides claims without a fee.
Recent arrivals and what is still unpaid
The newest laws in the data took effect in Illinois (January 1, 2024), Minnesota (January 1, 2024), Michigan (February 21, 2025), Alaska (July 1, 2025), Nebraska (October 1, 2025), Connecticut (January 1, 2026). Several were phased in by employer size, so coverage keeps widening each January. Where there is no state law, which is the case in 30 of the 51 jurisdictions covered here, paid sick time exists only if your employer offers it or a city or county ordinance requires it. A few large cities have their own sick leave rules that apply even when the state has none, and some states have passed laws that forbid local governments from adopting them. The FMLA still protects longer absences for a serious health condition, but without pay.
Sick leave when the job ends
Unused sick leave is usually not paid out when you leave, unlike vacation in some states, because the laws treat it as protection against lost wages, not as earned compensation. Many statutes require that the balance be restored if you are rehired within a set period. If your employer folds sick days into a general PTO bank, the payout rules for vacation may apply to the whole balance instead, which the PTO payout guide covers state by state. Check your handbook for the label the employer uses, because that label can decide whether the hours are owed with your final paycheck.